May 7, 2002

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa - UWM received solid efforts from each of its starting pitchers and John Vanden Berg collected four hits and four RBI in a doubleheader sweep of Iowa Tuesday evening, extending the Panthers' school-record winning streak to 12 games.

Geoff Lefeber (3-0) worked five innings and allowed just two runs as UWM won the opener 8-6, while freshman Jeremy Leibfried (4-0) allowed just two earned runs in five innings in the nightcap as the Panthers (27-14) claimed a 7-3 win.

In addition to its school-record winning streak, UWM has now won 16 of its last 17 games and 23 of its last 27. The Panthers are 3-1 against Big 10 foes this season and have won six straight road games.

Vanden Berg went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI in the opener. UWM built a 7-0 lead on the strength of a five-run fifth inning, then had to weather a late Hawkeye rally. Iowa (21-24-1) scored twice in the fifth, once in the sixth and three times in the seventh to pull within two runs before Matt Freisleben recorded the final out for his 13th save.

In the key fifth inning, Vanden Berg drove in P.J. Cannon and Troy Doering with a double to left center to make it 4-0 before Guden drove in Vanden Berg with a single to left to make it 5-0. Shane Davis and Ben Beno also drove in runs in the inning, which saw 10 Panthers come to the plate.

In the nightcap, the Panthers built a 6-0 lead with two runs in the second and four more in the fourth. Leibfried allowed just two hits in his five innings, while Mikel Schaefer worked the final two innings and allowed just one hit. Vanden Berg went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Steve Guden had two hits and two RBI.

During the four-run third inning, David Michna drove in a run with a single through the right side before Dave Pudlosky and Guden each drove in runs with singles. Pudlosky then scored on a balk to cap the scoring in the inning.

UWM returns to action Friday night, opening a four-game league series at Youngstown State. The Panthers enter the series in first place in the Horizon League, one game ahead of UIC and two games ahead of Youngstown State. Friday's first pitch has been moved back to 7 p.m. EDT in Youngstown, Ohio.